Appling native Allison Blanchard channeled the grief over losing her father into her newly published book, Forget-Me-Not.

The 19-year-old’s book was released Oct. 12, more than four years after she wrote it.

“It was definitely worth the wait,” said Blanchard, a Westminster Schools graduate who now attends Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Ga. “It still feels pretty surreal.”

In January 2008, Blanchard lost her father, Preston K. Blanchard. He was the former co-owner of Carter Blanchard Office Supply Inc. and the man for whom the Columbia County School System’s Preston Blanchard Outstanding Partners in Education award is named.

Blanchard, who was 15 when she started the book, said writing helped her cope with grief after her father’s death.

“It was just like a world I could escape to,” Blanchard said. “I didn’t plan to write a book. It just kind of happened to me. The Lord gave it to me.”

The book follows a girl with few friends and her fascination with a Native American boy and his tribal culture.

The sophomore creative writing and French major is working on a second book and hopes to write a trilogy.